Before the game comes concept art: Jen Zee: ‘Bastion’

Chances are, if you were around for the 2011 Summer of Arcade on Xbox 360, you’re already familiar with Bastion. The game was later released on PC and continued to be a huge artistic success. Developer by Supergiant Games, Bastion follows the journey of The Kid. Upon waking up on a floating platform, the player continues to explore the world as it puts itself together before your very eyes. The Calamity has happened, and thank goodness, because it has resulted in a truly beautiful world.

Everyone is quick to recognize the vibrant colors and an appearance that looks almost like a painting. For that, we have art director and sole 2D artist Jen Zee to thank. A quick glance at any of her works, Bastion related or otherwise, and you’ll easily see the relation between the two.

Like what you see? For more of Jen Zee’s work you can always head over to her deviantART page or her own personal blog. She has some truly phenomenal pieces of art that you should check out.

And with that, we leave you this week with words written by the artist herself:

It’s really strange to think about the time I spent on Bastion… it hardly even seems real, thinking back on it! We were always in such a rush to get everything we wanted into the game that I think it was easy to overlook the fact that we had in our hands something with the potential to reach out and touch the souls of kindred spirits…! If you’ve played Bastion, I hope your experience was positive, and even though I’m certainly not 100% proud of EVERYTHING in the game (let’s face it, an artist’s work is never done!), I am so happy to have had the opportunity to work with such an excellent team to create something that truly came from the heart.